SILKFLEX is the leading manufacturer of eco-friendly water-based textile printing inks worldwide. In addition to their impeccable record for product consistency and chemical compliance, they have achieved GOTS, REACH, Oeko-Tex, ZDHC Gateway, etc. certificates. SILKFLEX is nominated chemical suppliers for PUMA, C&A and H&M. In Bangladesh, they are operating the business for the last 12 years and now they have around 200 customers here.
Recently Silkflex global team visited Chattogram arena to explore the market, showed the latest developments, solved the problems of factories and gave a possible solution. They visited Pacific Jeans Ltd, Jay Jay Mills (Bangladesh) Private Ltd and Sea Tex Ltd. Based on the visit, Dr. Eric HL TAN, Managing Director of Silkflex Polymers Sdn Bhd, Malaysia shared his view about Chattogram factories and the prospect of business in Chattogram.
The Silkflex global team also includes Md. Kabir Mollah, Managing Director, Silkflex Bangladesh Limited; Thian Own Chin, Technical Director, Silkflex Polymers Sdn Bhd, Malaysia and Engr. Ahmed Javed Jamal, Head of Technical Operations & Marketing of Silkflex Bangladesh Ltd.
Chattogram printing market
During Chattogram visit we introduced our newly launched products of water inks for special paste for NYLON / POLYESTER / TAFFETA fabric (SILKFLEX NYLON PE WHITE SNPW-1905, Silkflex Nylon PE Clear SNPC-1906). Normally for taffeta fabric, factories are using solvent based (petroleum oil based) inks which are nowadays prohibited by most of the brand and retailers as solvent-based inks contain banned chemicals (as per ZDHC MRSL guidelines).
Years after years, the factories who are working for screen print on Nylon, Polyester and Taffeta fabric, they face problems for both brand and retailer’s chemical and physical test requirements. SILKFLEX has made easier the complication of these types of fabric print by introducing water-based inks for Taffeta, Nylon and Polyester fabric.
Water based inks don’t contain any banned chemicals, no failure in Azo test, Phthalate test or any banned chemicals. We also visited Young One at DEPZ to solve the issue of Nylon and Taffeta fabric print by these new products.
Prospect of printing at Chattogram
What we have seen that most of the printing factories in Chattogram area are working for printing on woven, denim and polyester based fabrics. Recently many factories are also working for knit fabric printing. There are almost 150 printing factories whether it is small or large in Chattogram area. The reputed brand and retailers are also increasing their printing fabrics orders in Chattogram based different factories. Moreover, there are three existing EPZs (Chattogram EPZ, Korean EPZ and Karnafuli EPZ) in Chattogram. So, there have been huge potential market in Chattogram after Dhaka and Gazipur based printing factories.
Challenges
Now the brand and retailers are requiring different chemical restrictions which is actually good for everyone. Because all are now concerned to use eco-friendly chemicals and inks for printing the fabrics. On the other hand, they reduce the price for printing garments. For that, most of the factories face challenges to use good quality products to meet the Brand Retailer’s given price. In this case, brands can revise the price issue. A lso, the printers in Bangladesh are not yet aware to use eco-friendly chemicals as they claim that brands are not given them a sustainable price. These can be solved mutually understanding by policymakers.
Opportunity
At Chattogram, there is a huge opportunity in the printing area as Bangladesh already is famous for excellence in printing fabric all over the world. Day by day, the printing fabric orders from different buyers are increasing. The good quality printing inks directly or indirectly also contribute to these. SILKFLEX is supporting all of its customers by technical know-how in Bangladesh.
SILKFLEX is very popular for screen printing inks, but recently Silkflex AOP series is developed to provide viable high-quality alternatives to the current global market of products with relatively limited performance. The Silkflex AOP introduces a new dimension to rotary and flatbed printing by providing excellent physical and chemical performance in addition to the creation of unique specialty prints that are not previously available.
Also Read: 185 factories receive Silkflex award
SILKFLEX is going to arrange AOP Seminar in upcoming September 2019.
| Table: SILKFLEX is introducing the following products for All Over Printing (AOP) inks. | ||
|
Sl |
Silkflex All Over Printing Inks |
Specialties |
| 1 | SILKBOND 35(BINDER) | Nano-polymer dispersion for cotton and synthetic fabric |
| 2 | Premium AOP White | High Opacity Brilliant White Paste with excellent elasticity |
| 3 | AOP White XT | High Opacity White Paste for color mixing |
| 4 | AOP White | High Opacity white paste for direct printing |
| 5 | AOP White HV | High Viscosity White Paste |
| 6 | AOP Clear | Clear Paste with excellent wet/dry rub fastness |
| 7 | AOP Aquadis White | White Paste for discharge like print |
| 8 | AOP Aquafoil Gold | Golden paste for direct printing foil effect |
| 9 | AOP Aquafoil Silver | Silver Paste for direct printing foil effect |
| 10 | AOP Aquafoil Clear | Clear paste for direct printing colored foil effect |
| 11 | AOP Gloss Gel(GLITTER PRINT) | Clear paste for gloss enhancement and glitter print |
| 12 | AOP Stiffener | Clear Paste to improve stiffness of the fabric |
| 13 | AOP Emboss | Direct print puff ink |
| 14 | AOP Glow in the Dark | Soft feel efflorescent ink |
| 15 | AOP Silicon White/Clear | Silicon like ink |
| Sl | Silkflex All Over Printing Additives | Specialties |
| 1 | Nylon Oxal | Eco-friendly adhesion promoter |
| 2 | Cross Linker | Eco-friendly additive to improve toughness and durability |
| 3 | Defoamer MO | Additive to reduce surface foam |
| 4 | Softener SL | Additive to improve the softness and slip |
| 5 | Silkwet | Additive to wet improve wetting, fabric penetration and emulsification of organic solvents in water |
| 6 | Retarder | Additive to increase the drying and wet edge times |
| 7 | Disperse | Additive to improve the dispersibility of solids and dispersion in water |
| 8 | Thickener | Thickening Agent for aqueous systems |
